HKU Open Day Talk Session: Criminal and Deviant Lessons

1. HKU Open Day Talk Session:Criminal and Deviant Lessons Discovering Criminology and Criminal Justice Presented by: Yujing Fun Department of Sociology

2. Criminology and Criminal Justice • Criminology • An inter-disciplinary field that attempts to understand crime and why it occurs on an individual and societal level • Criminal Justice • Systems of practice and organisations that are used to maintain social order through control of crime and deviance Criminal Justice Procedure in Hong Kong

3. Criminal Justice Studies at HKU • Understanding criminal justice studies: • Looks into “how” the criminal justice system operates • Questions “why” it operates in this way • Programme aims: • To foster students who wish to assume roles in Hong Kong’s criminal justice system • To provide the tools to students interested in crime and its control to critically dissect policies and practices relating to crime

4. Three Paradigms of Criminology • The Classical School • Crime is freely chosen and individuals commit crime and deviance because they find that it is logical to do so • The Positivist School • Crime and deviance is caused by something that the individual cannot control but makes him commit criminal acts • The Conflict School • Crime and deviance is something that is created by the people who have the power to make the law to control society with; they can make anything a crime and anything not a crime

5. The Classical School • Based on the idea that people have “free will” and crime and deviance is something that a person chooses to do • Believes that punishment can deter, as long as it is: • Severe enough • Certain enough • Swift enough Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)

6. An Example of the Classical School in Action • Deterrence Theory • Argues that people will be deterred if punishments are severe enough, certain enough, and swift enough. • An Open Question for Open Day: • The Death Penalty • Does it work and is it an effective deterrent? Sentencing rally in Wenzhou, China 7th April, 2004

7. What We Know About the Death Penalty • Almost every study done on the topic has come to the following conclusion: • The death penalty is ineffective as a deterrent to crime • But why? Isn’t death the ultimate punishment and therefore the ultimate deterrence? According to Amnesty International, China executed at least 470 people in 2007, making China the world’s number one user of the death penalty. Amnesty only counted the executions it could undeniably verify which means that the number is an absolute minimum. Others, who used different means of estimation, place the number at about 5,000; however, because China regards the number of executions a state secret, there is no official method of verification.

8. The Death Penalty • Studies on effects on crime rates show that the rates either stay the same, or they increase: • Brutalisation factor • People see that killing is not always wrong and could be a solution to certain problems • Cultural normalisation • People are unaffected by the death penalty because it has become a part of their everyday lives • Attention seeking phenomenon • Statistics show that, after a highly publicised execution is delivered, there are many copycat crimes as certain people try to gain public attention through similar methods

9. The Classical School and Capital Punishment • The Classical School argues that the death penalty doesn’t help society fight crime and thus, it has no reason to be used. • Thus, it is an indefensible argument in terms of social science, but the death penalty could be justified by other means such as politics and religion. A series of photographs showing an execution field in China

10. The Positivist School • Believes that crime and deviance is not something an individual chooses, but something they are pushed into by: • Biological factors • Psychological factors • Environmental factors Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909)

11. An Example ofthe Positivist School in Action • Functionalism: • Crime and deviance is actually normal and exists in all societies • They exist to show the moral boundaries of society • They also exist in order to bring progress to society Compilation of murder rates all across the world (Toit, 2006)

12. A Look at Prostitution in Hong Kong • Functionalism says there is no way to get rid of crime and deviance, because it is necessary to society. • Question: Is prostitution a crime in Hong Kong? Competitive prices on an infamous “yellow” poster

13. Prostitution in Hong Kong • The act of prostitution is, in fact, legal in Hong Kong. • It is the means to get a prostitute that is illegal. • Consider the following: • According to the Hong Kong Legal Code Chapter 200 Section 141, “one-woman brothels” (一樓一鳳) are completely legal... • But if there were two prostitutes working in that apartment, it would be illegal. Turning a new leaf: A notice on the door announces that this place in Mong Kok no longer has any prostitutes inside

14. The Positivist School and Prostitution • Crime and deviance cannot be eliminated because crime and deviance serves clear positive functions in society. • Prostitution sets moral boundaries in society • Prostitution encourages open debate, progressive discussions and awareness about sex, sexuality, as well as gender inequality Movies that have covered the topic of prostitution in Hong Kong, thus raising awareness around concepts of sex and gender

15. The Conflict School • Believes that crime and deviance are not natural things • Instead, they believe that crime and deviance only exist because people with enough authority call it a crime and a deviance Karl Marx (1818-1883)

16. An Example of the Conflict School in Action • A crime becomes a crime because of law • Law is created and controlled by powerful people, and it could be possibly abused to serve their interests • Compare the following cases: • If you and me stole about US$100 in South Korea, our punishment would be: • Three years imprisonment with labour • If you were Chung Mong-koo, chairman of Hyundai, and stole US$100,000,000, your punishment would be: • Six-months community service Chung Mong-koo was later pardoned by the South Korean president in August 2008

17. A Little Bit of Deviance • Try to remember: • What was your first thought to what I am wearing when you first realised I was today’s speaker? • People normally consider my manner of dress “unexpected” for someone in my position, but why? • Because certain authoritative people enforce what is “normal” and “acceptable” • And therefore, what is “right” and what is “wrong”

18. From Deviance to Crime:Regulating Dress Codes in the U.S. • Normally, a poor dress code is considered “bad taste”, or just simple deviance in dress • But in some parts of the U.S., “fashion crime” is a reality • Most of the recent legal action is an attack on the “baggy pants” fashion • In Riviera, Florida, wearing such clothes will result in: • US$150 (HK$1150) fine for a first offence • US$250 (HK$1900) fine for a second offence • 60 days imprisonment from the third time on • States that already have such a law, include: • Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida • States that are planning such a law, include: • New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas, Maryland, Oklahoma, and New York (Information accurate as of October 2007) Some people in Hong Kong also adopt this form of dress, but in some parts of the U.S. it is a criminal offence

19. The Conflict School and Clothing • Crime and deviance are tools that are used by people in power to control those who cannot stand up for themselves. • The dress code that is being outlawed is usually worn by the black community in America. • The law will therefore generally affect the black population more, putting them onto the criminal record and allowing the police to legally track them. • The use of the law reinforces the rejection of the black community in America. It is known that racism takes many forms; this particular form of racism is known as laissez-faire racism

20. Wrapping Things Up • We have gone through: • Criminal justice studies at HKU • The baby steps of understanding crime and criminology • Yet, we have only scratched the surface of the discipline...

21. A Segment for Questions and Answers (^__^)

22. We have successfully reached the end!WOOHOO~!!! To find out more, please join us at the Department of Sociology booth! (^__^”) Have a very happy and mind-blowing Open Day!